240 THE NORTH-AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION. 



of basaltic rocks results in the formation of a fine tract of pastoral 

 country, in which the Roper River takes its rise. 



55. The "Plains of Promise/' which occupy the south shore of the 

 Gulf between the meridians of 139° and 141°, extend little beyond 

 lat. 18° 10', south of which we always met with miserable sandstone 

 ridges, except on the banks of the Flinders and Leichhardt Rivers, 

 and the whole of those plains seem to result from the gradual recession 

 of the waters of the Gulf. The grass was generally inferior, both in 

 quantity and quality, to that on the Victoria or the eastern coast. 

 Water is scarce during the dry season, and the surface is so level that 

 it is excessively wet and boggy during the rains. 



56. Had the vessel reached the Albert in time to co-operate with 

 the land party, my intention was, to have explored the courses of the 

 Leichhardt and Flinders Rivers, which are now the only rivers in 

 Northern Australia, the sources of which have not been ascertained, 

 though from their small size there is reason to think that they do not 

 extend more than 100, or at the most 150, miles from their mouths. 



5 7 . East of the Gulf, after receding thirty miles from its shores, the 

 level country is covered with worthless scrubs of Melaleuca, and Triodia 

 covers the more open country. Even along the course of the Gilbert, 

 the extent of available country is by no means great. 



58. Crossing from the western to the eastern waters, a marked 

 change was observed, after travelling over nearly 13° of longitude, in 

 a country where the same geological and physical characters were al- 

 most constant. The sandstones were completely superseded by slates 

 and primary rocks, climate and vegetation seemed to change in the 

 space of a few miles, and it was only where wide-spread plains of ba- 

 saltic lava, with their peculiar vegetation, occurred, that any semblance 

 of the western country remained. 



59. Although large tracts of inferior country exist on the upper por- 

 tion of the Burdekin, yet there are many fine patches of country well 

 adapted for stock, while the never-failing supply of water in its channel, 

 the hilly and varying character of the district, by protecting it from 

 the serious consequences which attend long droughts in more level 

 portions of Australia, will render it eventually one of the important 

 districts of the Colony. 



South of the Burdekin we encountered the first Brigalow scrub, 

 formed a broad belt, widening as if ^^a^a a.^_ ±i „„* „ nt \ 



60 



